Edition:

Bejing to Shanghai: a train for two cities

Today's launch of a new high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai is yet another example of the country's accelerated development. But you can still get a flavour of old China in both cities, from a Hutong hotel in Beijing to a retro bar in Shanghai's French concession

A hotel: The Orchid

All Beijing photograph: Tom O'Malley

Down a ramshackle alley, past pyjama-wearing locals and the shouts and sizzle of a restaurant kitchen, sits The Orchid, a boutique sanctuary in a thrillingly local setting. A Tibetan accountant, a Canadian tea exporter and a Hong Kong architect have together transformed a derelict old hutong house into a 10-room hotel that blends homely comforts with natural light and outdoor space. White rooms have a fresh, yoga-studio aesthetic, with goose-down beds, rainforest showers and little jars of high grade teas. The most affordable digs occupy wood-beamed Qing-era buildings that wrap around a cobbled courtyard; premium rooms have little private gardens and terraces, and mod cons like Apple TV. A wine bar carries a selection of Italian and Australian bottles, paired with locally-made cheese and smoked sausage from Guizhou province. Climb to the top terrace for knockout views of the ancient Drum and Bell Towers, looming magisterially over grey rooftops. • 65 Baochao Hutong, Dongcheng District (+86 10 8404 4818, theorchidbeijing.com). Doubles from 600 CNY (around £58) B&B

A bar: Great Leap Brewing

German-American Carl Setzer is the amply bearded proprietor of Great Leap Brewing, a tumbledown alleyway pub that microbrews real ale with Chinese characteristics. Housed in the former library wing of a siheyuan, one of Beijing's once grand quadrangle, or courtyard mansions (mostly broken up under Mao), it's a suitably cerebral setting to savour locally-sourced creations like Iron Buddha Blonde, made with tieguanyin, a premium oolong tea. "Some Chinese customers are surprised at how strong our beers are," says Liu Fang, Carl's wife and business partner, although her wry grin would suggest this is polite way of saying "pissed". Liu Fang's family apiary in Shandong province provides the organic honey for Great Leap's best selling brew, Honey Ma Gold, spiked with Szechuan peppercorns for extra clout. Bar snacks are limited to bowls of crunchy brewer's malt and spicy peanuts, but Great Leap takes regular deliveries from local eatery Hutong Pizza at nearby Houhai Lake.• 6 Doujiao Hutong, Nanluogu Xiang, Dongcheng District (+86 10 5717 1399, greatleapbrewing.com)

A restaurant: Liu Zhai Shifu

The Liu family have occupied this well-hidden courtyard home for more than 100 years, but it's only in the last decade that they've started serving "old Beijing" style food. Crowds of locals pack out the covered courtyard each evening, knocking back shots of baijiu, a sorghum-based spirit, and chattering away in the thick Beijing dialect. Tables heave under plates of mutton flash fried with onion, bronzed Peking duck and zhajiang mian – chewy noodles with vegetables and bean sauce. Ma doufu is a dish notably nostalgic in its austerity: mung bean pulp – the by-product of tofu making – sautéed in lamb fat. It's delicious smeared onto oily flatbread. Such hearty, humble fare is proof that northern Chinese don't go in for all that chef-y tripe like they do in southern China. Though they do love actual tripe, boiled and served here with a heap of fresh coriander, chilli and sticky sesame sauce.• 8 Meishuguan East Street, Dongcheng District (+86 10 6400 5912)

A shop: Beijing Postcards

The lost art of sending postcards is undergoing a mini revival at this broom-cupboard of a shop on gentrified Nanluoguxiang. The Danish owners have amassed a fascinating collection of vintage Beijing photographs scoured from markets and auctions in China and abroad. One shows a camel train trudging past the city walls the Communists tore down in the 50s; another is a century-old family portrait with the subjects' heads shaved in the Manchu style. Some are provocative, like a print of post-revolution Tiananmen Square in which the iconic portrait of Mao Zedong is conspicuously absent. "It's our bestseller," says owner Lars. "Chinese customers are surprised when they learn that his portrait didn't go up permanently until 1966." Keen amateur historians, Lars and his business partner also run a bilingual monthly lecture series on subjects ranging from old Chinese maps to Beijing's historic central axis.• 85-1 Nanluogu Xiang, Dongcheng District (+86 1371 8556237, bjpostcards.com)

A cultural site: Penghao Theatre

Penghao opened in 2009 and lays claim to be the first independently-owned theatre in Beijing to be licensed by the Ministry of Culture. Set in a hutong alley in the shadow of the prestigious Central Academy of Drama, the theatre stages regular English and Chinese productions of international and home-grown shows, and hosts weekly workshops on everything from playwriting to bilingual improv. Annual festivals include the Beijing Youth Theatre Festival and the Nanluoguxiang Theatre Festival, inaugurated in 2010. Penghao was originally funded by a Chinese dentist with a passion for the arts, and the theatre retains an intimate, community vibe, seating just 80. A cafe with adjoining roof terrace serves pre- and post-show cappuccinos and beers to a crowd of students and local literati. Penghao operates under the slogan "theatre is free". Not entirely accurate – tickets usually go for between £5 and £10.• 35 Dongmianhua Hutong, Dongcheng District (+86 10 6400 6472 penghaoren.com)

A hotel: Pei Mansion Hotel

Pei Mansion

Tucked behind a high stone wall one block back from Nanjing Road's glassy retail plazas is a sedate slice of yesteryear. Built in 1934 for the family of renowned Chinese-American architect I M Pei, this art deco mansion lay derelict for several years until recently restored as a 1930s Shanghai-themed boutique hotel. The elegant lobby serves as a mini museum to the era, crammed with period furnishings, sepia-tinted photos, opium pipes, gramophones, clocks and large wood-framed mirrors, while the Chinese rockery garden evokes a pleasing sense of serenity given the downtown location. There are 25 rooms, each decorated in 1930s Shanghai deco style, with lattice wood panelling and marble-floored bathrooms plus modern comforts and in-room technology.• 170 Nanyang Road (+86 21 6289 7878, peimansionhotel.com). Doubles from £133 per night B&B

A restaurant: Sichuan Citizen

The southern province of Sichuan's hot, peppery flavours have never been this cool. Styled as an update of a traditional Chinese teahouse, this street-level dining room features 1960s ad paintings on the bright scarlet walls, bamboo latticework, and a line of dancing wooden fans above the bar. The menu is large, and very spicy – ranging from a lip-searing mapo doufu (tofu in a chili and bean sauce) to a tongue-numbing kung pao chicken and tangy barbecue pork spareribs with cumin – is paired with an excellent cocktail menu. Both the basil drop and frozen margarita hit the mark, but with dishes this spicy, mugs of ice-cold beer are the popular choice.• 30 Donghu Road (+86 21 5404 1235, citizenshanghai.com)

A bar: Cotton's

Cotton's, Shanghai

Back in 2003, opening a bar in a converted villa in the French Concession represented a huge bureaucratic challenge. But Chinese entrepreneur Cotton Ding was driven to create a casual, unpretentious place with plenty of retro character to meet and drink. Her original venue was soon closed down, but eight years later she owns two bars and a thriving Hunanese restaurant. Both drinking spots, located in heritage villas on tree-lined French Concession streets, are local institutions. In winter, the cosy rooms and fireplaces over two floors make a cheerful respite from the cold, while in spring and summer the plant-filled patio gardens are packed until the early hours with a mixed crowd sipping cold beers and house cocktails. The welcoming landlady herself still serves behind one or other of the bars most evenings.• 132 Anting Road (+86 21 6433 7995) and 294 Xinhua Road (+86 21 6282 6897), cottons-shanghai.com

A shop: Suzhou Cobblers

In Shanghai's voraciously branded urban-scape, this is the kind of store that shouldn't really exist. It's named after the neighbouring city of Suzhou for starters, even though owner Huang Mengqi's hand-sewn traditional silk slippers – with quaint names such as Plum Flower and Mandarin Duck – come in delicate colours and patterns that evoke 1930s Shanghai. The neat wooden shelves also stock cross-stitched silk purses and handbags with Chinese flower and calligraphy motifs. Even better, the tiny shop in an old townhouse may be a stone's throw from the Bund, but it is off the beaten track for most shopping tours – enabling you to peruse in peace. • 17 Fuzhou Raod (+86 21 6321 7087, suzhou-cobblers.com)

A cultural site: ShangART Taopu

Since 1996, ShangART Gallery has promoted boundary-pushing Chinese artists at home and abroad. Its latest art museum project is sited in a disused factory building in northern Putuo district, which has been painted bright red on the outside. Inside, the largely untouched interior houses an impressive collection of contemporary art from the last two decades alongside studios for emerging artists. The cavernous warehouse space enables the curator to play with large installation pieces, ranging from Wang Guangyi's The Materialist sculpture, which draws on China's Cultural Revolution's usage of socialist-realist peasant hero statues, to Tools, by Zhang Ding, which features a collection of 1980s refrigerators filled with yellow foam and connected to speakers that emit an explosive sound as visitors walk past. Smaller gallery spaces show temporary painting exhibitions by established and upcoming Chinese artists. • 18 Wuwei Road, near Qilianshan Road (+86 21 3632 2097, shanghartgallery.com)